Polk County Eviction Process: Notices, Filing, and Writ

An eviction in Polk County follows Florida Statutes Chapter 83: the landlord delivers a written statutory notice, waits out the notice period, files a complaint with the Polk County Clerk of the Circuit Court, has the Sheriff serve the tenant, and after judgment obtains a writ of possession that the Sheriff enforces with a 24-hour posting. An uncontested case runs roughly four to five weeks and costs about $315 in mandatory fees for a single-tenant possession action; contested cases stretch from six weeks to several months. The Polk County eviction process is unforgiving on paperwork, and a mistake on the notice, the filing, or the rent-deposit rule can restart the clock or sink the case entirely.

Start With the Right Notice

No case can move forward until the correct written notice is delivered and its clock has run out. Florida uses different notices for different reasons, and picking the wrong one is one of the most common reasons cases get dismissed.

Three-Day Notice for Unpaid Rent

When rent is late, the landlord delivers a written demand giving the tenant three days to pay or move out. Saturdays, Sundays, legal holidays, and the day of delivery do not count, so a notice served the Wednesday before a holiday weekend can give the tenant several extra calendar days.¹ The notice must state the exact amount of rent owed. Inflated figures or tacked-on fees that are not actually rent give the tenant grounds to challenge the whole case.

Seven-Day Notice With a Cure Period

For lease violations the tenant can fix, like unauthorized pets, parking problems, or failure to keep the unit clean, the landlord delivers a seven-day notice giving the tenant a chance to correct the issue. Fix it in seven days and the eviction stops. If the same type of violation happens again within twelve months, the landlord can skip the cure period.¹

Seven-Day Unconditional Notice

For serious violations where no cure makes sense, such as intentional property destruction or repeated disturbances, the landlord delivers a seven-day unconditional notice terminating the lease with no option to fix the problem.¹ Using the wrong flavor of seven-day notice is a frequent basis for dismissal.

How the Notice Must Be Delivered

A notice can be handed to the tenant directly, left with someone else at the residence, or posted conspicuously on the property (typically taped to the front door) with a mailed copy.² When the notice is sent by mail rather than hand-delivered, add five days to the notice period. Keep proof: a witness, a photo of the posted notice, or a certified mail receipt. Tenants routinely claim they never got the notice.

File the Complaint With the Clerk

Once the notice period runs out and the tenant has not paid, cured, or moved, the landlord files a formal complaint with the Polk County Clerk of the Circuit Court. The core documents are the written lease, a copy of the notice served, and a completed Complaint for Eviction identifying the parties, property, reason, and relevant dates.

The landlord also files a Summons for each adult tenant and a Non-Military Affidavit, which confirms no named tenant is on active military duty. That affidavit is required before a court can enter a default under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.³ Forms are available on the Florida Bar website, and printed packets can be picked up at any of the Polk County Clerk’s three offices.⁴

Filing Fees

The filing fee for a residential eviction seeking possession only is $185. If the landlord also seeks unpaid rent or damages, an additional fee applies based on the amount claimed: $175 for money claims between $501 and $2,500, and $300 for claims up to $15,000.⁵

Where to File

Eviction filings go to the Bartow office or through the Florida Courts E-Filing Portal.⁴ Filing in person at the wrong Clerk location can cause processing delays.

Corporate and LLC Landlords Need an Attorney

An individual owner can handle their own eviction. A corporation, LLC, or other business entity that owns the property must be represented by a licensed Florida attorney, and that rule applies even to single-member LLCs. A property manager can process an uncontested nonpayment case using approved forms, but once the tenant contests anything, an attorney has to step in.

Sheriff Service and the Tenant’s Five-Day Window

After the Clerk processes the complaint, the summons must be formally served. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office serves eviction papers for $40 per defendant.⁴ A deputy attempts personal delivery at the property. If personal service fails, the landlord can ask for substitute service by posting.²

The summons tells the tenant they have five days (excluding Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays) to file a written answer, and that they must deposit the disputed rent into the court registry to raise any defense other than payment.⁶

The Rent Deposit Rule That Decides Most Cases

To contest a nonpayment eviction, a tenant must do two things within the five-day response window: file a written answer with the Clerk, and deposit the rent the landlord claims is owed into the court registry. If the tenant disagrees with the amount, they file a Motion to Determine Rent alongside the answer, and the judge sets the number.⁶

Miss that deposit and every defense is waived except the defense that the rent was already paid. The landlord then gets an immediate default judgment and a writ of possession with no hearing.⁶ Tenants on public housing assistance or subsidies only have to deposit the portion of rent they personally owe.

If the tenant does not answer at all, the landlord moves for default. The Non-Military Affidavit filed earlier matters here, because the court cannot enter a default against someone who may be on active military duty without additional steps.

Defenses a Tenant Can Raise

Tenants who answer on time and deposit the rent can raise real defenses at a hearing. On paper these defenses are strong; miss the deposit and none of them save the case.

Defective Notice

The most common defense is that the notice itself was flawed. A three-day notice that demands the wrong amount, includes charges that are not rent, or miscounts the notice period can result in dismissal. The landlord can fix the notice and start over, but the clock resets.⁶

Failure to Maintain the Property

A tenant can argue that the landlord failed to keep the unit habitable and that this justifies withholding rent. The tenant must have delivered a written notice describing the problem and given the landlord seven days to address health or safety issues. The court then decides whether and by how much rent should be reduced for the period of noncompliance.⁶ The problem has to actually affect safe habitability.

Retaliation

Florida law prohibits evicting a tenant in retaliation for exercising legal rights, including reporting code violations to a government agency, joining a tenants’ organization, or asserting fair housing rights. The tenant must have acted in good faith, and the landlord can defeat the defense by showing a legitimate reason for the eviction such as actual nonpayment.⁷

Writ of Possession and Removal

After a final judgment, either by default or after a hearing, the landlord requests a Writ of Possession from the Clerk. Including a $90 check payable to the Polk County Sheriff at that point covers service of the writ and saves a separate trip.⁴

Once the Sheriff has the writ, a deputy posts a 24-hour notice at the property. Weekends and holidays do not pause the countdown. If the tenants have not left after 24 hours, the deputy returns to carry out the removal. The landlord or the landlord’s agent can then remove any personal property inside the unit and place it at or near the property line. The landlord can also ask the deputy to stand by while the locks are changed, though the Sheriff may charge an hourly rate for that.⁸

Motion to Stay the Writ

A tenant can file a Motion to Stay the Writ of Possession, asking the judge to halt enforcement. Courts grant stays only for a genuine legal reason, such as evidence that rent was actually paid and misapplied or that the judgment was procedurally defective. Needing more time to find a new place is generally not enough. Depositing a substantial sum into the court registry can strengthen the request, but a stay is never guaranteed.

What Landlords Cannot Do

Only a court order, executed by the Sheriff, can remove a tenant. Landlords who take matters into their own hands face heavy penalties. Prohibited actions include shutting off or interfering with any utility (water, electricity, gas, heat, garbage collection), changing the locks, blocking entry, and removing doors, windows, or the tenant’s belongings outside a lawful eviction.⁹

A landlord who breaks any of these rules is liable to the tenant for actual and consequential damages or three months’ rent, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees and court costs. The penalty applies for each prohibited act, so shutting off the water and changing the locks in the same week can trigger two separate penalties.⁹

Handling Belongings Left Behind

After the writ is executed, the landlord cannot simply throw away what the tenant left. Florida’s Disposition of Personal Property Landlord and Tenant Act requires the landlord to send a written notice to the former tenant (and to anyone else the landlord reasonably believes owns the property) describing what was left and giving a claim deadline. That deadline must be at least 10 days after personal delivery of the notice, or at least 15 days if mailed.¹⁰

During the waiting period the landlord stores the property safely and can charge reasonable storage costs. If the tenant never claims it, next steps depend on value. Property the landlord reasonably believes is worth less than $500 in total can be kept or disposed of at the landlord’s discretion. Property worth $500 or more must be sold at a public sale after the landlord publishes notice in a local newspaper for two consecutive weeks.¹⁰

There is a lease-based exception. If the signed lease contains a specific printed clause stating the landlord is not responsible for storage or disposal of belongings on surrender or abandonment, the landlord may be relieved of the Chapter 715 notice obligation.⁹

Baseline Costs

Filing fee, possession only: $185⁵
Sheriff service of summons: $40 per defendant⁴
Sheriff service of Writ of Possession: $90⁴
Additional money-damages filing fee: $175 for $501–$2,500 claims; $300 for claims up to $15,000⁵

A single-tenant possession-only eviction runs about $315 in mandatory fees before any attorney costs. Additional tenants add $40 each in Sheriff service. Adding a money claim raises the filing fee based on the amount sought. Attorney fees vary widely and depend heavily on whether the tenant contests the case.

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.56 – Termination of Rental Agreement
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes Chapter 83 – Landlord and Tenant
3
United States Courts. Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
4
Polk County Clerk, FL. Evictions
5
Polk County Clerk, FL. Fees
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.60 – Defenses to Action for Rent or Possession; Procedure
7
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.64 – Retaliatory Conduct
8
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.62 – Restoration of Possession to Landlord
9
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 83.67 – Prohibited Practices
10
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes Chapter 715 – Property: General Provisions